What is AV2 and how does it differ from AV1?
AV2 is the logical evolution of AV1, building on its strengths while delivering significantly better compression performance and also introducing new capabilities like enhanced support for AR/VR applications.
Why the need for AV2?
The widespread adoption of AV1 revealed opportunities for improvement. AV2 is designed to learn from these lessons while providing a natural upgrade path from AV1. Like software, video codecs benefit from regular updates that fix issues, improve usability, and respond to real-world feature requests.
Why are AV2’s features important to the media and entertainment industry?
Some of the features of AV2 are not merely improvements over AV1 but entirely new capabilities. This opens doors that were previously closed. For example, support for split-screen programme delivery makes AV2 particularly valuable for sports.
How long has AV2 taken to develop?
AV2 development started in early 2021, with the first research release of the AVM reference software tagged on January 17, 2021. The development has proceeded since then, with the specification, reference software and requirements being updated iteratively by the Video Codec Working Group technical committee.
Why do you think open standards are so important to the industry?
Lowering friction to developing and deploying standards that meet user requirements is essential to meeting the changing needs of the industry.
Looking back at the Alliance of Open Media’s 10 years, what would you say has been the biggest challenge?
Wearing my executive director hat, I would say that focusing the energy of AOMedia members is the greatest challenge: AOMedia brings together a diverse group of innovators, large and small, from across the media ecosystem.
What do you think will be the biggest talking points over the next 10 years?
The future of media standards is exciting:
- Traditional video codecs are reaching a performance plateau, opening the door to fresh approaches
- Software performance is increasing across platforms, loosening the need for hardware support and thus making it easier and faster to deploy new technologies at scale, even on older devices
- Standards development needs to be more agile and closely integrated with open-source software to keep pace with demand
- While mass-market entertainment remains largely a 2D video affair, more immersive consumer experiences have made recent progress in terms of the availability of consumer devices and content
